As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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We have recently downgraded our hotel reservations. I was so excited when we upgraded from Pop Century to the Wilderness Lodge, but as time went on I couldn't justify spending that much money on a room that we will hardly be in. My boys only wanted to book that hotel because they could go on a fishing excursion. As I was looking into other options I saw that the Port Orleans hotels have fishing excursions also. It is still an upgrade from Pop Century and I wanted a pool with a slide for them. They are probably too old for it, but I don't know. I've never seen any other resorts. I called Disney Travel Co. and received a quote. We will save a little over $1500.00. I really can't justify spending that much on a room that we will be at less than 20% of the time. I went ahead and made the change.
The French Quarter was not available during our stay, but the Riverside was. Does anyone know anything about this hotel? Have I made a huge mistake?
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Magic Kingdom Dec. '07
--Jody
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Previous Trips: PC 05/04; DS/D 09/05; POR 12/07
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Port Orleans Riverside is beautiful! I have not stayed there but I have visited it and it is really lovely! I think your family will be really happy to be there. As for WL it is great but the transportation to the parks from their stinks! We had family stay there and they will never go back just because of that. I think POR is a great choice!
POR is wonderful! I cannot say enough good things about it. It may be moderate in price, but it sure felt like a deluxe to me! It is absolutely beautiful -- so serene. The pools are great and the boat ride to DDT is so much fun. I am sure you won't be disappointed -- and saving $1500 makes it even better!
I've stayed at POR twice and will be staying there for a couple of days in December. It is great! The theming is excellent and I the food court. There are 2 different sections - Alligator Bayou and the Mansions. I personally prefer the laid back theming of the AB section, but I know many people feel the upscale theming of the Mansions section is almost like staying in a delux resort. Another vote for taking the bus to DTD. It is a great way to travel and see some areas of WDW that you don't normally get to see.
For a $1500 savings I would definitely stay at POR. That $ would buy a lot of Mickey Bars!
I am on the PO bandwagon myself. I love that resort. I prefer the French Quarter side because it accommodates my disabilities better, but Riverside is awesome too! You will not regret it at all. They have fishing and carriage rides and the boat to DTD is a gorgeous relaxing ride.. Port Orleans is a moderate resort with a deluxe feeling.
I'm with ya on the $1500. You could spend that on food and eat really really well.
We are staying there again this summer.
It does have a catch and release fishing trip.
The food court is GREAT.
It is a bit big, so it was difficult lugging our sleepy children back to the room at night. But we will try to get closer to the bus/food court this year.
We POR!! We have a hard time NOT booking a visit there, but we're trying to spread our wings a little more. I think your boys will love it! Building 14 is our favorite.....close to Riverside Mill & the main bus stop and just a short walk to the main pool. (I think your boys will love the slide as well!! DH goes on them with DS14!)
POR is a nice place to visit. I would stay again, IF I could stay again in the mansions. WE had a very sad experience with Alligaor Bayou area (dirty room and I mean really dirty carpet and curtains, also a quiet pool area that was icky with stuff in the water). We moved to the Mansions and they were lovely, the quiet pool there was pristine clean, the room was clean and the ambiance of the area was more upscale for the smae price as AB. I am not gonna say that POR is equal to a deluxe though (we have stayed in a deluxe and really there is no comparison!).
We are staying at POR for 4 nights in Nov. Although I've never stayed there, I think the theme and the ammenities are great. I'm sure your going to be very happy staying there.
We stayed in the Magnolia Terrace bldg at POR in Oct 2004. We enjoyed it alot. We were very close to a bus stop, quiet pool and it was a nice, pretty walk over the bridges to the main bldg/food court. I would not hesitate to stay there again. Maybe next time we'll try Alligator Bayou. Hope you enjoy your stay as much as we did!
POR is wonderful! I cannot say enough good things about it. It may be moderate in price, but it sure felt like a deluxe to me! It is absolutely beautiful -- so serene. The pools are great and the boat ride to DDT is so much fun. I am sure you won't be disappointed -- and saving $1500 makes it even better!
We love POR too! The pool area is nice, but we prefer the quiet pools for convenience and they are less crowded, the food court has great selections and it's really close to DTD.
I don't think you'll be disappointed at all. POR is beautiful, the food court is delicious, they have a themed pool and a few 'quiet' pools, and you can use the pool on the French Quarter side. Be sure to take the boat to DTD.
As much as I would LOVE to stay at the WL, I don't think I could justify that cost (if some day I could, of course I would!). Enjoy your stay!
POR is the only place we've stayed so far, and we LOVE it!! Staying there was one of DH's few requests for our upcoming trip. It's really relaxing, and has tons of beautiful foliage around. The food court's good, and the atmosphere is one of the finest we've ever stayed at. We HIGHLY recommend it!!
ps There are 2 sections to POR. Alligator Bayou is our fave. We've stayed at Magnolia Bend on our honeymoon, but it's more romantic IMO, and AB is more family oriented. Also, most of the rooms in AB have trundle beds, so one of your boys oculd have their own bed.
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the food court. There are 2 different sections - Alligator Bayou and the Mansions. I personally prefer the laid back theming of the AB section, but I know many people feel the upscale theming of the Mansions section is almost like staying in a delux resort. Another vote for taking the bus to DTD. It is a great way to travel and see some areas of WDW that you don't normally get to see. 
We stayed in the Magnolia Terrace bldg at POR in Oct 2004. We enjoyed it alot. We were very close to a bus stop, quiet pool and it was a nice, pretty walk over the bridges to the main bldg/food court. I would not hesitate to stay there again. Maybe next time we'll try Alligator Bayou. Hope you enjoy your stay as much as we did!
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